Overview
- About 50 people gathered at Hannover’s Opernplatz, where organizers set out 135 crosses and grave lights as a memorial-themed protest.
- The Regional Assembly plans to vote on Tuesday on whether to appoint Anne Spiegel as Sozialdezernentin.
- If approved, her term would begin in May 2026 with responsibility for social policy affecting roughly 1.2 million residents.
- Local reporting has cited an expected budget of about two billion euros for the department, reflecting the scope of the role.
- Opposition centers on her handling of the 2021 Ahrtal flood and a family holiday shortly after the disaster; she later resigned as federal family minister in 2022, while now acknowledging she expects resistance but says she aims to do good in the post.